The Braehead Blog: Start As You Mean To Go On

The Braehead Blog: Start As You Mean To Go On

As I took my seat in Braehead Arena Block B on Saturday night, even before the first face off, I knew it was going to be the start of something good. I'd entered the arena on my own, as I'd got from Fir Park to Paisley before my fiancee and my folks, and sat down in the corner of the bench side stand.

Both the Clan and Dundee were warming up as I soaked in the ambience and the view from an unfamiliar seat. I'm usually a K man. As I notified my cohorts that I was inside already, my eyes buried in my phone, I could hear the clunk and thud and scraping of skates, sticks and pucks emanate from the pond.

A shrill cry of "heids!" broke the audio of the rink, but not enough for me to take notice. What did make me look up from my texting, was 2 lads dog piling on to the seat next to me from over my shoulder. It was then that I realised what had happened.

In events similar to my first Clan game, also against Dundee, a stray puck had flown from the ice and landed right next to me. However, on this occasion, I had not seen it coming. Had I been sat 1 seat to my right I would probably be still looking for my teeth or phoning the insurance company to explain how my phone had been shattered by a hockey puck.

By the time I'd realised it all, there were now 4 boys scrapping for the puck. Eventually 1 of them was declared the victor, with his prize the black rubber disc that could have easily broken my glasses.

The puck that I claimed last year has pride of place on my desk at work. It acts as a boredom killer, a stress totem and a really thick coaster. It still has the scuff marks from the ticks that had passed it around and is a conversation starter with newbs to the office.

It also serves as a reminder of my first season following The Clan. Now that we are 2 games in to our season, I'm wondering what I will gain in the season ahead as a reminder of how it pans out.

I'll have my blogs and my reports and the tweet I got from David Simms after objecting to him diminishing the league by highlighting Edinburgh Capital's misfortune. I see no merit to the EIHL from playing on the poorer aspects of what is a fairly decent British League, and the promotion of the league should be put ahead of anything negative.

Maybe this season's must have black Clan shirt will be the material possession to spark the memories. It does look rather fetching and think the team will look awesome in a slightly more intimidating kit. Not that there's anything wrong with the home colour scheme, it's just not very menacing.

However, Bannister's Purple Army sounds just as good as Richardson's. The 2500+ crowd on Saturday night made sure of that by making the new coach welcome, as well as the new starters for this season.

Jaakko Suomalainen was under the cosh for most of the 2nd period, keeping out 33 efforts in total. His performance fully merited the chants of "Sumo" from the crowd and he was unlucky not to be Man of the Match. Jimmy Jorgensen scored a debut goal and Behemoth Brock McPherson was unlucky to hit the post. That man is a giant and could be the muscle we need this season. Of the old guard, Jordan Krestanovich started as he meant to go on with 2 fine goals, as did Vince Connon, Adam Walker and Ryan Campbell, all ably assisted by Jade Galbraith.

Knowing of Galbraith's notoriety, it was good to see him get on with playing the game, assisting with assists and fancy stick play when needed. With Bayrack to come in as well, this bunch of Braehead battlers look like they could be a very good team in a few weeks.

A 6-0 win is as emphatic as you can really get for a 1st game, but I'm lead to believe game 2 v Edinburgh was not quite the cakewalk many expected. Winning 4-2 is still a good result against a resilient if depleted Caps side.

From what I have read, Clan were a bit sluggish and fatigued, but that was probably to be expected. Without a proper preseason and a good few games behind everyone else in terms of fitness, it was always going to tell. Coach Drew was certainly keen for the lads to perform better, but a win is a win is a win. All eyes point towards next weekends game against Cardiff. This will be the first proper test for Clan 2.0 as The Devils have started the season fairly well, most recently defeating Coventry, who themselves are having a less than perfect start to the 2011/12 season.

Unfortunately my footballing commitments will see me travelling back from Dundee while this game is on, so I'll be keeping my eyes glued to my phone for updates, just like I did when narrowly avoiding death by puck.

However, regardless of the result and indeed any of the future results, I know this will be a season to remember. The players, the fans and the urgency are a there to make season 2 a success. Whether we are in the Arena, The Puck Stop or The SnoBar or coaxing others to join us for games, we believe that our team can make an impact this year.

A Trophy at the end of it would be a good memento to remind us of the season as well....

Mon The Clan!